


Trust Falls

by orphan_account



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Crack, Gen, Literally it's just team building, i guess theres klance in here, i write to stave off anxiety i hope you enjoy me trying to entertain, okay listen this fic has turned into something weird
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-13
Updated: 2017-07-09
Packaged: 2018-10-18 13:48:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 6,584
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10618200
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: inspired by this post:http://keithkogayne.tumblr.com/post/159358020123/to-work-out-their-differences-shiro-makes-keith





	1. Shiro is a petty dad

"Lance! Keith! I need you two to work together on this!" Shiro's voice crackled through the helmet intercom. They had arrived on a fiery planet with a community that was about to be engulfed in molten rock.

"I got this Shiro, my lion's good with heat," Keith replied, a shocked Lance instantly denying it, to which Keith rolled his eyes. 

"If anything, your lion will just make it worse!" Lance shot a beam at the oncoming wave of lava, freezing it and watching it turn black. "See? I'm better for this."

"Yeah? Well," Keith landed his lion in front of the lava glacier, tipping it back into the liquid it came from, "If you ever got this close, your lion would be toast."

"Oh boo, you can't even do anything to stop the stuff-"

"Guys!" Hunk interrupted, "We have everyone in the castle, _please_ get back here and stop fighting all the time!"

"Alright," Lance muttered.

-

"Since the team is still not able to work together willingly," Allura shot Lance and Keith a glare, "I've talked to Shiro, and he's come up with some bonding exercises!"

"Uh, no, we've already bonded plenty," Lance crossed his arms. He was aware of being cradled in Keith's arms, despite not remembering it.

"No, that was just gay," Pidge smirked and Keith grumbled at her.

Shiro frowned, "Quit it, you guys. So for this next week, we're gonna try some team-building exercises, and now that we've been together for a while, it should go better than the first time." The paladins collectively groaned, all of them probably had better things to do, in their minds.

"First off, trust falls."

Shiro's order was met with a small uproar, then each of them calling out Hunk as their partner in unison.

"Nope, we're doing this my way," Shiro grinned, "Lance, with Keith."

"Come on!" Keith huffed, putting his hands up in annoyance.

"Hunk and Pidge," He shrugged, "And then we're going to rotate. I'll go to Hunk, Pidge will go to Keith. And it goes again until we've done this enough to trust each other!"

"Shiro, um, so no one will have to catch me, right?" Hunk spoke up, hand politely raised, "Because, uh, yeah."

"Right. With each rotation, one person will catch twice, and then they'll fall twice, and then it rotates." Pidge pursed her lips while Shiro was explaining, examining her tiny hands.

"Let's get started!" Allura clapped her hands together and watched the paladins slowly get up off the couch and make their way over to their first partner. Lance and Keith scowled at each other, while Pidge made a nervous squeaky noise and looked up at Hunk.


	2. Lance is really smooth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ********langst*********

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ok all updates after this will be weekly

... And it was all going great until Lance ended up in the healing pod again, feeling like the seventh wheel, and the author demonizes the other paladins because Lance didn't have any good character development.

...

Just kidding.

Hunk successfully caught Pidge twice, though he almost dropped her because he wasn't paying attention to if she got her footing or not. However, Lance and Keith weren't doing as well.

Lance had decided that he'd be falling first, and stood much too close. Shiro called them out and they reluctantly parted farther. Lance kept his head turned to watch Keith the entire time.

"I swear to quiznack if you don't catch me, Keith-"

"I will! Just fall already!" Keith snapped back at him, wiggling his fingers.

Lance frowned and tilted himself back, allowing himself to fall.

But not to be caught. He stepped a foot back and whirled around.

"You totally weren't gonna catch me!" He prodded Keith's chest with an accusing finger.

Keith grabbed Lance's wrist and tossed it away from him, "You can't say that if you're not even gonna give me a chance to catch you, asshole!"

"Watch the language," Shiro mused, behind Pidge to help her catch Hunk. Hunk fell gracefully, his entire trust in the two behind him.

Lance smirked at Keith, finally being the one who wasn't scolded, "Ha."

"Just turn around and get this over with," Keith grumbled, pushing Lance's shoulder.

Lance rolled his eyes and put his arms out, falling genuinely this time. He tensed up as his brain told him he'd inevitably collide with the floor and bent his elbows, honestly about to yell at Keith for letting him fall until his fall was cushioned by two hands under his arms.

Keith pushed him back up to his feet, "I told you," He muttered, "Trust me more."

"One more time," Shiro called. Hunk and Pidge had already finished their turns.

"If you drop me-"

"I won't, just DO IT."

Lance frowned distastefully and did it again, watching Keith in his peripheral vision.

"Ha ha!" Lance stood up quickly after another successful catch, "Dude!"

"Ugh."

"I totally thought you were gonna drop me," Lance motioned for Keith to turn around, "Like, that would hurt, so I wouldn't want that to happen."

Keith put his arms out and fell, wanting Lance to just _shut up_.

"And, y'know, I'm glad I don't have a concussion and everything but like- OH."

Lance lunged forward to catch Keith just before he hit the floor. Keith had his eyes squeezed shut and hands behind his head, completely ready to have fallen.

"Put more faith in me!"

"Don't wait so long to catch me!"

"Well I caught you, didn't I?"

"Let's rotate, Shiro," Keith stood up and glared at the black paladin.

"Nope, one more time," Shiro grinned. Pidge looked like she was getting bored, staring longingly at her computer gear across the room.

Lance opened his arms like he was going for a hug, "Yup, one more time."

"Fine," Keith muttered and did it again, though this time making sure to step closer to Lance. Lance smirked mischievously.

Lance sidestepped and caught Keith by the middle of his back and scooped him up, his other arm under his knees in a bridal carry.

"Lance!" Keith shoved him, pushing his hand into Lance's smiling face.

Shiro barked out a laugh, "Smooth!"

"Gay," Pidge corrected.

"So gay." Hunk agreed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey hey the first time i write a voltron fic its fuckin stupid  
> find me on tumblr  
> main blog @ catherinecries  
> art blog @ catherinescribbles


	3. Keith is a fucking furry

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shot through the heart

Not long after Lance's totally gay™ move, they had switched partners and Lance had a red mark in the shape of a hand on his cheek from Keith.

Speaking of Keith...

"YEAHHH!!!" Pidge howled, hoisted into the air by the red paladin. She stood on his shoulders, both had a grin on their face.

Shiro crossed his arms, "That's dangerous-"

"I'm taller than you, space dad!" She snickered, hands on her hips. Keith kept his hands firmly on her feet and let out an airy laugh. Lance clutched his chest at the noise.

"Alright, this.. This clearly isn't helping us," Shiro put his robot hand on his forehead, pinching the bridge of his nose. He scowled at Hunk's agreement and dropped his arm, pointing at Keith and Lance.

"It's literally only you two!" He held his hands up and made a motion with his hands like he was crushing something, "Why can't you get along?"

Lance shrugged and Keith made a face, catching Pidge and letting her down onto the floor. The rivals looked at each other and kept silent for a mere moment before Lance said something off-hand, which sparked Keith, which caused them to get into an argument. Pidge smacked a palm to her forehead.

"Lance, Keith! If you two can't stop bickering all the time, I'll... I'll have to forcefully resign you from your paladin duty!" Allura butted in, shoving them apart once they were close enough to be shoving their foreheads together.

"He started it, princess," Lance crossed his arms and put most of his weight to one side, hip swayed out. Keith scowled at him and flipped him the bird.

"You spoke first, so no, you actually started it first," He sneered. Lance scoffed and rolled his eyes.

"You two," Shiro put his hands on his hips, "Will be doing some one-on-one bonding."

Pidge squinted, "Ew?"

"Yeah, I think that's a good reaction Pidge, because me too," Hunk glanced to Shiro.

He sighed loudly that ended in a groan, looking up at the ceiling, "Okay! Everyone to bed, Keith and Lance, stay here. It's been a long day, but I need to chat with you two." He waited until Hunk and Pidge left, followed by Allura, before he addressed the red and blue paladins.

"You two are going to start sharing a room."

"Um?" Lance put his hands on his hips with an incredulous look on his face, "If anything, that's gonna make it worse! I had to share a room with Mateo back on Earth and we _hated_ each other for eternity. That's not happening."

"Oh, are you not up for the challenge, Lance?" Keith side-eyed him, arms crossed, "That's fine, leave it up to you to endanger the team." Shiro put both his hands on his face.

"Oh no, no no no, you do not get to pull that card on me, Mr. Hothead," Lance frowned grumpily, leaning towards Keith, "Fine, I'll share a room." He looked at Shiro. "Actually, you know what, to bond even more, I'll share the damn bed!"

"Lance," Shiro sighed.

"Nope, it's done. It's official. I'm sleeping with Keith."

They heard Pidge cackle from outside the common room doors. Keith had his head in his hands and was shaking it slowly back and forth, and Lance was unsure if he was embarrassed or laughing. Lance made a triumphant noise and grabbed his jacket off of the couch, "Let's go, Mullet."

"I have a name, and it's Keith," The red paladin grumbled, but followed Lance anyway.

Shiro squinted ad wondered why Keith hadn't pushed the idea away that Lance would share his room, his _bed_ , with him. Hmmm.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lmao i actually completely forgot about this fic until last night at 2am  
> this feels like a filler episode
> 
> find me on tumblr  
> @ catherinecries  
> and @ catherinescribbles


	4. Pidge talks about her memebro to the furry kid

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> here's some real langst but like subtle langst  
> also some ooc keef

Keith frowned at Lance as he carried a load of his clothes and facial products into their new room, which was bigger than the normal dorms. It had a bunk bed and a bathroom with a cool tub that Lance was destroying, in Keith's eyes. Lance filled the counter space with all of his stuff, which he refused to accept were women's products. "They just smell good, Keith!" Lance snarked and splashed water on his face, putting on a weird looking paste that looked more like cheap face paint than any sort of moisturizer. 

"You look stupid," Keith deadpanned, sitting on the edge of the bottom bunk. He had one leg crossed over the other, elbow on his thigh and head resting in his hand.

"Says the guy with a mullet," Lance smirked, wiping his hands off on a towel and sitting next to Keith, flopping backwards onto the bed with his arms outstretched. He sighed and stretched, moving himself so he was close to the wall. Keith got up and took his shirt off.

"What?" Keith looked at Lance's face but couldn't pinpoint the expression. When he got no answer, he put his hands on his hips and asked again, "Lance, what?!"

Lance smiled a bit and shook his head, "Nothing. Didn't know you slept without a shirt." Keith shrugged.

"I usually don't."

"Why tonight then?" Lance raised an eyebrow, propping his head up on a hand to properly talk to Keith.

Keith jumped and pulled himself up on the top bunk, "It's really warm in here- Lance, what are you doing..." He stared at the Cuban boy that was trying to shimmy his way up onto the top bunk.

"I said I'd be sharing the same bed with you." Lance said nonchalantly, pushing Keith over on the bed a little and laying closest to the edge, "So that's what I'm doing." He grinned, but quickly wiped his face of any strong expression to keep the face mask from drying strangely.

Keith frowned at him and rolled his eyes. He turned his back to Lance and sighed, "Whatever. Just don't bother me." He closed his eyes, willing sleep to come to him quickly. Instead he found annoyance by Lance's chatter.

"Do you think we could find water bears all the way out here? Like from Earth?" Lance chimed in Keith's direction.

Keith put a hand on his face, "Probably, Lance, we've found a lot of things."

"But water bears, we haven't found those. Do you think anything from Earth could be way out here?"

"Matt, maybe." Keith sighed.

"That's Pidge's brother, right?" Keith felt Lance's weight shift, probably turned towards him.

"Yeah, she talks about him a lot."

"Really? She's never talked about him around me," Lance pouted, "No one really talks about anything important around me, I guess."

Keith stared at the wall, "Well, duh, there's a reason for that. You never listen to anything, everything goes in one ear and out the other, with you." Keith grumbled. Lance stayed quiet for a couple seconds, letting Keith's mind relax a little bit.

Lance bit his lip and inhaled to say something, then stopped, then tried again, "I do listen, though. I remember you telling me you were part Galra when I was cleaning, and I remember Shiro talking about his mom, and all that. I listen," Lance's voice got quieter, "But I guess no one else thinks that I do."

Keith raised his eyebrows and turned over to face Lance, "I thought you weren't paying attention when I told you."

Lance made a face, "Well, I was."

Keith squinted, "Why didn't you say anything about it? Everyone else has... They've at least acknowledged it."

"Well, it's not like you _just_ became part Galra, you've always been part Galra, so like, yeah. It's not like being two races is a big deal," Lance shrugged. "My mom was white and she married a Cuban guy. And here I am. It's not huge."

"I'm an alien??" Keith pushed, trying to get something out of Lance, though he didn't know why he wanted a reaction.

"Yeah, so was I when we moved. People didn't like me, and I found Hunk at the Garrison, we were like the only dark kids there besides some other girl."

"Huh." Keith was mildly irked that Lance would agree that he was an "alien" because, clearly, he wasn't, but who was Keith to decide how Lance should feel. "That's great and all, but I'm tired," Keith said, pushing Lance a couple inches further from him, "You're too warm so just... Stay over there."

Lance's smile faded as he realized Keith really didn't care and he nodded, "Alright, hothead, get your beauty sleep," He sighed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> who is pacing? i dont know her
> 
> find me on tumblr @ catherinecries and catherinescribbles  
> my art blog is lame, its mostly ocs and fics so whatever i guess


	5. hunk said fuck

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> taking some time away from lance

"Pidge, uh," Hunk peeked around the corner at her, "I don't, um, that's probably not a good idea!" He whispered. He jumped at a creaky noise from behind him, sucking in a deep breath through his nose. The castle was dark, and they should be sleeping! Pidge pressed something on a little hand held remote she had, and the door the Lance and Keith's room opened with a quiet _ksssss..._ "But nooo, we have to spy on our team mates, because someone wants to win a bet," Hunk commented under his breath, tip-toeing after the little paladin.

  
Pidge walked into the room confidently, glancing around with a small side smirk on her acne spotted face. She looked past the bottom empty bunk and stood on the balls of her feet to peek up at the higher bed. She pulled herself up a little bit, heaving herself up onto the very edge of the upper bunk.

  
"Pidge!" Hunk whimpered before her door-hacking remote fell to the floor, the battery cover popping off and clattering across the room. Pidge dropped down and mumbled a curse word before being pinned to the ground by a startled, ready-to-fight Keith.

  
"Who-" Keith whipped his hair out of his eyes with a jerk of his head, "Pidge?!" He let go of her shoulders when she smiled sheepishly.

Hunk was the first to speak up, stuttering a shy apology with his head bowed. Unlike Pidge (the RAT), he actually felt bad. He woke his friend up, even though technically it wasn't him but he went along with the idea. Keith pushed himself up and rubbed his eyes.

"Okay," Keith muttered after a quick sigh, "I'm just- I'm going back to bed," He grumbled and flopped onto the bottom bunk this time, face first into the not-so-soft pillows. Pidge clicked her tongue and herded Hunk out of the room, just slightly annoyed.

"They weren't," Pidge muttered and slid down the wall until she was sitting. She pushed her glasses up, "You win this time, croissant breath."

"Uh, yeah, because I know my best friend, and my best friend Lancey doesn't cuddle, kiddo."

Pidge made a disgusted face, "Don't call me kiddo, kiddo."

"I'm gonna call you kiddo, kiddo, because you're younger than me, kiddo."

"By like 3 years! I'm fourteen!"

"Kiddo," Hunk grinned. Keith threw something at the door and they scampered down the hall, sliding into the main room where they had set up blankets and pillows for a tech-y sleep over. "Well! I won, so that means... Y'know, I'm just tired. I'm gonna sleep! And you're not gonna draw on my face," Hunk hunkered down in his comforter mountain, "Goodnight, rat face."

Pidge snorted, "Good night, hamster cheeks."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HEY!! i've been in the hospital but I am okay now!! sorry for the super long hiatus!!


	6. the author ran out of clever titles

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> what even is this fic anymore i have to reread it so i can add on to it ffs

The next morning was... Less than uneventful.

The castle was broken, _again_ , and the air was sweltering. Especially so since Lance was tucked next to Keith, holding onto one of his arms like a pillow. Keith yanked his arm away, failing to not slap Lance's forehead, and maneuvered himself over Lance so he could get down. He was halfway there when Lance gawked, sputtering a tired-sounding, "What are you doing?!" As Keith was basically straddled over Lance, face expressing only the most annoyed expression he could manage when he was so uncomfortably warm.

Keith decided just to keep moving. He wasn't ready to talk to anybody this early, much less Lance. He scootched off the edge of the bunk and landed gracelessly on both feet. He stumbled forward into the wall with a groan, sliding down until he was laying face down on the floor. "Too fucking early for this," He hissed, "Too fucking _hot_."

Lance snickered at the display, hopping down from the bunk and passing Keith, walking into the bathroom that was conveniently connected to their new room, "I thought you used to live in the desert, Mullet boy, this is nothing compared to sweet, Texas heat." Any contempt from last night's conversation had died while they slept, and apparently so did personal space. Keith had gotten to his feet while Lance was talking and was now shoving Lance to the side so he could look at himself in the mirror; Dark circles and patches of flushed, acne scarred skin. He was absolutely beautiful in the eyes of someone's dog, but he really just looked like shit.

"Dude! I'm trying to wash this off my face, you could at least say," Lance toned his voice down to make it more gruff, more Keith-sounding, "Excuse me! Move!" Lance pushed Keith's shoulder and turned on the tap, something that was surprisingly low tech for such a nice castle. He cupped his hands together and let them fill with the blue-tinted anime water. He drug his hands down his face over and over until his face mask was off and his skin felt smooth, taking his sweet time as he got the counter and floor wet.

"What the fuck, Lance," Keith grumbled, running his hands through his own hair to push it down and somewhat put it in place, "Are you always this messy?"

Lance side-eyed him with a quirked eyebrow, "No? I'm obviously doing this to get on your nerves," He said sarcastically, "It's literally just water. Too wet for you, desert boy?" Keith sneered and pulled his hair back into a low ponytail, too pissed off to do anything with it right now.

"Why are you like that?" Keith muttered and walked out of the bathroom after inspecting his skin some more, noticing how it was nowhere near as smooth and nice as Lance's.

"Like what?" Lance smirked and followed, "Charming? handsome?" He stepped in front of Keith and winked, "Perfect?"

Keith frowned, stepping on Lance's foot and earning a yelp, "Irritating. Annoying... Really irritating." He grumbled and moved out to the hallway, dying a little as Lance followed him.

"Well don't you have the classic Texan vocabulary. Small. Small vocabulary," Lance put his hands on his hips. He knew he was being nettlesome, and he was enjoying watching Keith get more and more infuriated. Keith just rolled his eyes, but the hunch of one shoulder gave away his boiling mood. "For being from the desert, you don't cope with heat well, huh?"

Keith pinched the bridge of his nose, "It's too early for this shit," He growled. Lance only made a small delighted noise and moved in front of him again, "Just leave me alone, Lance."

"Aww, is Keef still tired?" Lance made a pouty face and put his hands on either side of Keith's face, squishing his cheeks together so he'd make a fish face.

"Lance," Keith said in a low tone, voice mushed, "Let go of me." Lance only smiled, looking brighter than ever. Too bright.

It was really hot in the hallway, and Keith started to forget about the heat. He started to forget about how to breathe too. And how to keep himself upright. How long had it been this hot?

"Lance, seriously," Keith's voice weakened only slightly, "I need water, or I'm gonna puke," He swayed to the right, scrunching his face up. Lance jumped back with a horrified look.

"Um, ew?! Not by me," Lance pursed his lips, keeping a good three foot distance between them. Keith kept swaying. The ship was spinning.

It was so fucking hot.

Keith ignored whatever Lance said after that, he couldn't focus. He just really, really wanted some water. He turned to walk down the hall and promptly fell, landing hard on his shoulder. Lance yelped and dropped to his knees next to Keith, catching him _after_ he fell. Excellent timing. Lance was sorta panicking.

"Shiro?!" Lance shouted down the hallway, "Huuunk! Princess?" Lance picked up Keith easily, speed-walking down the hall towards the kitchen.

Of course the fucking door wasn't working.

"Come on.. Guys? Anyone? Open the door maybe?" Lance tried. Why did the rooms with bunks have to be in a different part of the castle than the normal rooms? He thunked his forehead against the door and immediately reeled back, hissing. 

Everything was getting warmer, and the metal scalded Lance's perfect skin. Keith was unconscious in his arms and sweating through the little amount of clothes he had on, and Lance was starting to really panic. "Ohhh man, oh man, okay uh, Keith? Dude? Light of my life? Dude I'd die for? DIDF for short? Could you get up maybe?"

The only thing Lance got in return was a steady breath out. I mean, at least he was breathing, right? Shit.

Lance wasn't a leader. Lance wasn't skilled at taking care of someone that passed out from a little bit of warm weather. Granted, he lived in Cuba for a long time, but every one of his siblings just drank water after getting dizzy and that was that.

"Water!" Lance shouted and shifted Keith so that he was over a shoulder. He got back to the room and set Keith down in the tiny bathtub at the far end of the bathroom. He glanced over Keith, worrying over if the poor kid's shorts would help him or hurt him. He decided he didn't care and turned on the tap, relieved that at least the water was cold-ish. Lance put a hand over the drain in the tub, too anxious to look around for a drain stopper.

Keith's red face already looked like it was cooling down. That's good.

Lance turned the water off and kept one hand on the drain still, splashing water at Keith's chest and face. He was starting to tear up with worry, something he hoped Keith wouldn't wake up to see happening.

But no, the universe is always against everyone. Keith gazed at Lance drearily, eyes nearly closed completely. Lance seemed to not notice as he twisted around to reach for something near the sink. He turned back with a cup and filled it with water, pressing it lightly to Keith's lips before noticing he was awake. Lance made a semi-squawk noise and took his hand off the drain as a reaction, spilling some water over Keith's chin.

"Drink- Drink this," Lance started out loud, but hushed his voice and stared hard at Keith, pushing the cup against his cheek. Keith drew his eyebrows together and moved his face away, grabbing the glass and sipping at it.

"It's hot," Keith muttered. His brain was so fizzled out by the heat, he really didn't have much to say.

"When you said it was warm last night, I should've asked Coran or the princess if something was weird with the castle's systems," Lance lightly rubbed the spot on his forehead from the metal, glad that it didn't feel like it had burned him. "When was the last time you drank anything?"

Keith just stared at Lance for a long time, taking another sip of water before shrugging, "Two days ago?" Lance made a face.

"How do you go that long without essentials? You're going to legit kill yourself by forgetting to eat, or something," Lance rolled his eyes.

"Oops," Keith replied monotonously, shifting his legs in the tub. The cold water was making him tense up, then relax, then tense up again. It wasn't comfortable.

"Oops? That's it?" Lance looked more worried than irritated as he got to his feet, "Well, whatever, now that you're awake you can help get us in to the main part of the castle."

Keith hummed in agreement and used the rim of the tub to push himself up, downing the rest of the water and filling it again before stepping out of the tub. The shorts clung to him like static, only it wasn't static. It was water. Why would you compare static and water?

"Alright, let's go then," Keith blinked, and the mission was set; Get out of there!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> BIG SHRUG comments and kudos make me write faster
> 
> i forgot this was a crack fic for a while so have some legit, ill-paced fic writing


	7. cliche chapter title

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> i dunno anymore dUDES

"Okay, hothead," Lance clapped his hands as he turned around to look at Keith, "Oooh, you look mad," He grinned, either out of nervousness or out of spite.

Keith smacked his lips when he opened his mouth, "You can't even come up with a better nickname than 'hothead', so yeah, I'm mad I'm stuck with you and your _small vocabulary_ ," He sassed, leaning his weight primarily on his left foot, standing in the classic Lance stance.

"You're such a salty desert boy," Lance rolled his eyes and picked up his jacket from the floor where he discarded it before they slept, "I have many nicknames for you, but the past couple of days have really just been 'hothead' days," He pretended to inspect his nails, smirk growing on his face.

"Oh really? Many nicknames?" Keith put his cup of water on a dresser and opened all of the two drawers, finding nothing but empty space. He grumbled something about needing dry pants, eyes flicking to the bathroom. Did he leave anything in there?

Lance watched him for a moment, tying his jacket around his waist, "Yeah. A lot of nicknames. Mullet, hothead, hot _shot_ , short stuff, tons of 'em," He walked out of the room, glancing both ways down the hallway. The air was almost hard to breathe it was so warm, so he scrunched up his nose and walked back in. "Is the air conditioner working in here?"

Keith shrugged, "Doesn't feel like it," He looked at the back of Lance's head, "Is it hotter out there?"

"Waaay hotter, like, it's almost hotter than I am," Lance put his hand under his chin briefly, side-eyeing Keith. Keith's shoulders dropped and he looked away, fingers absentmindedly feeling along the soaked hem of his shorts. Er, more like his boxers, but he's choosing to ignore that he's wearing such clingy clothing for now. He picked up his definitely not-a-crop-top jacket and tied it over his hips. "Oh, copying me now?" Lance flicked Keith's back.

" _Ow_." When did Lance get so much closer? Why was he staring so weirdly? "Do you need... Something...?" Keith side stepped, grabbing his cup of water at the same time and taking a drink, "Oh, mm, hold on," He mumbled around a mouthful of water, "Have you had any water? Like you said it's almost hotter than you are, so you're probably gonna get dehydrated," he raised an eyebrow.

Lance looked shocked. He stuttered for a moment before letting out a strained chuckle, "Okay, addressing the main point, I haven't had anything since last night, and I'm starving, and second, did you just call me hot?" He smiled widely, eyebrows shooting up.

Keith frowned, a near grimace, "Uh, no, no I did not, I was just imitating-" He grunted as Lance scooped him up into a hug. He was too tired for this right now.

"Awww, _Keith_!" Lance cooed, "I didn't know you were out of the closet! That's so- Oof!" Lance fell flat on his butt, a throbbing pain at the bridge of his nose that sparked tears. The clatter of Keith's plastic cup startled him out of his daze, "Dude! Did you just hit me with this?!" He picked up the cup and got to his feet, shoving it in Keith's face.

"Yeah? You were being a prick," Keith sneered, "So while you do whatever in here, I'm going to look for a way out," He shoved Lance's shoulder roughly and walked barefoot out into the hallway.

Oh, what a bad idea.

"Fuck! What the fuck that's so hot-!" Keith darted back into the room, slamming himself against the wall and trying to literally hover (it wasn't working). "Holy fuck, shit, ow Jesus, fucking..." He squeezed his eyes shut and sat, holding his feet above the ground.

Lance snorted as he filled his cup at the sink, "Wow, watch your language, Keith," Lance teased, taking a small drink. "Don't want Shiro getting on your ass about that again." Keith just scowled at Lance and curled his toes. There was already a blister forming on the bottom of his right foot. "Oh, shit," Lance dropped the playful tone, "That looks painful."

"No. Shit." Keith hissed out, "Ugh, why didn't you tell me the metal was hot?!"

"Okay, I did, for one," Lance held a hand out horizontally, "Let's calm down a little bit, yeah? I feel that you're very angry."

Keith frowned, "Trust your senses. I can't fucking walk on this foot." Lance bit the inside of his cheek and watched Keith over the rim of the cup, taking a few deep gulps before tilting his head back and finishing it.

"Well. That's sucks, I guess," Lance shrugged and put the cup on the dresser Keith rooted through minutes ago. Keith groaned and leaned his head back on the wall with a quiet _thunk_.

They waited in silence for a while. Lance sat criss-crossed on the floor and propped his head up with his palm, elbow leaning on his knee. Keith twisted his leg to try and look at the sizable blister on his foot to no avail. Curse you, inflexibility! Lance sighed and stared at the ceiling. Obviously thirty seconds of quiet time was too overwhelming.

"What time do you think it is?"

Keith shrugged.

They fell back into silence.

_Tick, Fwooooo..._

Another sigh from Lance.

Lance's jacket dragging across the floor as he changed positions.

_Tick._

"You know what that sounds like?" Keith mumbled. The heat was bearable in the room, but it still made him sleepy.

Lance looked at him with bored eyes, "Hm?"

"An air conditioner turning on and off."

"Could be," Lance said quietly.

"No, seriously, I think someone is doing this on purpose. Locking us in, I mean." Keith squinted, staring at a vent high on the wall opposite to him. Lance followed his gaze.

"Do you think it's Pidge?" Lance stood up, standing up on his tip toes to see into the vent. Merely moments after Lance said the devil's name, the castle's comms crackled on.

"It's not just me," Pidge's voice came through, smile obvious through her voice, "This was actually Shiro and Coran. Although, I gotta say Shiro feels really bad about hurting Keith," 

"It wasn't his fault," Keith muttered and rolled his eyes.

"Right, anyways, Coran has been trying to figure out how to restore full power to that hallway. Uh, apparently the modifications I made messed up the config really bad, so..." The comm crackled out, then came back on.

"Guys! Don't panic, Coran's gonna figure out how to fix everything," Hunk had gotten ahold of the mic now, "This is kinda super dangerous with you two trapped, it's really bad. We could be attacked or something and you guys can't get out, you wouldn't be able to get to your lions, Voltron would be-"

Someone took whatever they were using to speak into the comms, "Listen, we're just trying to get you guys out." Shiro said, "Make sure you drink water, sounds like you've been doing that. I'm really sorry, Keith. And Lance, thanks for thinking to give him water. When he passed out the comms were still down in that hallway, so really, thank you." Somewhere in the background, Pidge yelled about Shiro being too sappy and to just hang up.

"Right, ahum, anyways, you should be out within an hour!" Shiro said quickly and then the hum of the com was gone. The receiver clacked down onto it's holding device and left Lance and Keith in a relieved silence.

Keith looked to the blue paladin with a smirk, "Look at you, getting all the attention from your hero." Lance tried to fight off a smile.

"Shut up," Lance sat back down, nearer to Keith this time, and layed back. He put his legs over Keith's thighs, like he was a foot rest, and stretched out, "Aaah, well, I guess we should just wait for rescue."

Keith debated pushing Lance's feet off of him, "Yeah. Now we wait." He glanced up as the air conditioner ticked on again, full blast this time. At least they were trying to cool them down.

And Lance was staring at him again.

This was weird.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay lmao im just really bad at writing crack fics  
> and if you havent noticed im just updating whenever i feel like writing
> 
> also some minor edits have been made to the first few chapters bc i noticed that i made a lot of typossss yikes sorry yall  
> i swear i speak great english


	8. zarkon is a sugar daddy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> back to the gremloin
> 
> also this started as a crack fic but now its like actually serious???? wow and the updates are far and fewwWWWW thank you @ that one person (u know who u are) that keeps commenting and being generally nice to me

"Nothing is working, I swear I've tried literally everything," Pidge ran her hand through her hair, cussing when her fingers caught in tangles. Shiro shot her a look before taking a deep breath and stretching his arms above his head.

"Well, they're not dying yet," He said in a light tone. Pidge looked at him, horror laced over her features.

"That's awful!" Pidge stared at him a minute longer before looking back to her computer screen. She looked back at Shiro, a slight pout pulling at her mouth.

Shiro raised an eyebrow, "What?" He put his hands on his hips, "They aren't. I'm just sayin'. Coran will help you fix it, and they won't be dead in an hour!" Shiro finalized with a squinty-eyed grin. He was really beating himself up about this plan. Which was his idea. And he didn't think of the consequences. He could feel himself panicking.

Hunk and Coran had run off to some obscure part of the castle with a USB drive Pidge had put a quick override code on, which she honestly didn't think would work, considering that power was completely down in the hallway where Lance and Keith were trapped in. She looked away from Shiro, pushing her glasses up to her forehead and rubbing her eyes, "Ugh, I hope Coran can figure out what's wrong. Do you think an energy crystal is out of alignment again?"

Allura looked up from her spot on the floor, cross-legged. Two mice sat by her, "The other two are still searching for anything that may be out of place, but so far there are no other areas of the castle that are malfunctioning," She sighed, lacing her fingers together, "I'm just hoping we don't have an emergency where we need all the paladins." Pidge readjusted her glasses and slumped down in her hovering Altean chair, dragging the tips of her shoes on the floor.

"I don't know what to dooooo," Pidge hummed, tipping the chair back to look at the ceiling. "Would you mind if I looked for something completely unrelated to this?"

Shiro and Allura shared a look. "If it's about Matt-"

"Nevermind," Pidge grumbled, taking that as a solid no. She tipped the chair back more and spun it, waiting for news from Coran or the mice. She tapped her fingers on the chair, making up a random rhythm and changing it every three or four beats. She's glad she figured out how to blast the air conditioner in Lance and Keith's room specifically, but she was really mad at herself for literally breaking a whole section of the castle. 

Shiro frowned and looked out the large windows into space, staring blankly at the millions and billions of stars, tinted blue by the strange glass. Matt was out there. Sam was, too. And Pidge's mother lost all three of them within two years. His frown deepened. Lance's mom lost her youngest son. Hunk's moms lost their _only_ son, the one they worked so hard to adopt. Shiro's own elderly parents lost their only son, as well.

"Damn."

Pidge raised her eyebrows, spinning the chair to look at Shiro, "Woah. Space dad cussed." Shiro just rolled his eyes and crossed his arms.

"Just thinking."

Allura watched the other two mice scamper in ahead of Coran and Hunk as they entered the main room, looking like they found nothing. She stood and tugged on her leggings, "I think it's time you all take a rest." She said pleasantly, pulling her hair back behind her shoulders, "The mice have found something, and I can take care of it." She smiled politely through her tiny lie, letting the mice crawl up her arm to rest on her shoulders, "So you all can go de-stress! The pool area is working, and Coran can show you how to swim in an Altean pool," She avoided looking at anyone and pursed her lips. The others just shrugged and went off in their separate ways.

"Princess," Coran started once Pidge, Hunk, and Shiro had left, "This isn't your fault." Allura looked at Coran with a pout.

She sighed, "I know. But it was me who gave the idea to Shiro, and now he feels guilty," She said, eyes downcast. One of the mice pecked her cheek with a light kiss and patted her jaw. She smiled sadly at the mouse and sighed again. Coran put a hand on the edge of her shoulder.

"They're smart. All of them. And you are, too, princess. We'll figure it out," He said in the softest voice he could manage, "Don't kick yourself for this."

"I'm a horrible leader."

"You're learning."

Allura just shook her head and brushed off Coran's hand, "Well, um, I guess I'll just... Wait," She popped the T, influenced by Lance. "And we'll... We'll see." She walked to the front of the bridge and sat on the floor, watching as the mice climbed down and tried to cheer her up. Coran straightened his suit jacket and walked off towards the mechanical room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> short_update.jpeg
> 
> i actually havent planned for this to be anything more than a stupid fic but now im just. idk man. im super sick and i miss writing serious fics lmao


End file.
